Do You Miss Them?
by frigginapplepie
Summary: Cedric and Harry have a talk in the world of the dead after they both have died. Fluffy like. NOT SLASH, unless you want to look at it in that sort of view. Songfic.


I do not own Harry Potter. Nor do I own the song River by Joni Mitchell.

The inky blackness of the night sky was anything but disturbing to the two boys who sat side by side in the center of the orchard, trees surrounding them and their little patch of frosted grass. The moon wasn't even a quarter full, yet the trees glowed with the little light there was, casting ethereal shadows upon them.

_It's coming on Christmas_

_They're cutting down trees_

_They're putting up reindeer_

_And singing songs of joy and peace_

_Oh, I wish I had a river_

_I could skate away on _

"Hey, Harry?" Cedric said as he stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning backwards and resting on his elbows. His gaze was fixed on something nonexistent, hidden at the edge of the field, hidden by the dark.

The black-haired boy looked at him, shifting in the grass to move into a more comfortable position. "Yeah?" he replied, head tilted to the side, green eyes gleaming mysteriously.

"Do you…." Cedric paused. He wasn't sure if he wanted to ask the question that had been bothering him for years anymore. He realized that there were loads of other ways to finish the sentence without saying what needed to be said.

But it would show weakness, an inability to say what had to come out into the open, and Cedric never wanted to see himself as weak. He mustered up his will and strength, took a deep breath, and tried again.

_But it don't snow here_

_It stays pretty green_

_I'm going to make a lot of money_

_Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene_

_Oh, I wish I had a river_

_I could skate away on_

"Do you…ever miss her? Miss Cho, I mean?"

Harry blinked, turning his sight to the far off moon. "I dunno," he said after a moment, his voice soft and wispy, as though it had been the stars themselves speaking. "I guess I…I miss all of them, really."

There was a gust of cold wind, and Cedric pulled his coat tighter around him. Harry remained motionless, eyes glazed over as they focused on the sharp crescent in the sky.

The pair lapsed into quiet, disturbed only by the nightly noises of nature: branches rattling as they hit one another; the soft padding of a rabbit bounding across the icy ground; the carried voices of people talking many yards away, brought to them with subtleness on the wind.

Cedric's face contorted in thought. What others could Harry miss? There were those two that he was always with, obviously, but were there any others?

_I wish I had a river so long_

_I would teach my feet to fly_

_Oh, I wish I had a river _

_I could skate away on_

"There was…this girl." Harry's pale face turned even lighter in color, as though the memories brought him pain. However, he did not turn to look at the man next to him, and continued in a hurt voice. "She was…perfect. And I loved her, but I don't think she quite realized it. We were together for a while. It wasn't long, but it was true. And I miss her."

Cedric sat in silence. There was an unsettled feeling within him, and it seemed to be constantly moving around in his stomach, forcing its way through his throat until it blurted out of his mouth. "That's how I felt about her," he said shakily. "About Cho, I mean. She was…she was everything. So…beautiful, and perfect. And, it hurts, because I loved her. I loved her, Harry."

Harry did not look away from the sky, but rather muttered after a moment, "I never thought that I would be without you, Ginny…."

_I made my baby cry_

Another gust of wind made Cedric shiver. He rubbed his hands together briskly, glancing from the moon to Harry as he replaced his hands on the cold ground behind him. "Ginny?" he asked of him. He couldn't mean the Weasley girl, could he?

"I remember meeting her for the first time, at Ron's house, summer after my first year. She was shy, and I think that she had a crush on me. But I never really started to like her until my sixth year." He took a deep breath, as though afraid to finish his monologue. "I…I told her that we couldn't be together, though. That it was too dangerous."

Cedric winced. He knew what it felt like…not exactly in the same way, but generally. Cho hadn't liked him until he had asked her to the Yule Ball, and that was when things started to take shape for the two. How Cedric missed her….

"Harry, I…I know how it feels."

Cedric knew that his words meant nothing, that he could do naught to console the boy beside him. However, he felt that it was his duty, being the older of the two, to make sure that at least one of them felt cheerful about the upcoming holiday.

_ You tried hard to help me_

_You know, you put me at ease_

_And you loved me so naughty_

_Made me weak in the knees_

_Oh, I wish I had a river_

_I could skate away on_

For the first time since their conversation had began, Harry looked at Cedric, tears moistening his eyes, though they did not fall. His mouth was drawn shut and tight, a thin line disturbing the sad and mournful features on his face. The sharp emerald green of his eyes had faded to a mossy, dead sort of color. There was no life left in them: only despair.

"I wish you did…" Harry muttered, mouth barely moving. "I wish you understood, but you don't. You can never understand. Your life wasn't torn apart by him in the living. It was at his hands that you died, of course. But you didn't have to put up with the torture, the agony, the pain that so many have gone through, living to remember it each day. You don't understand it, Cedric."

He was startled. It was the only word that the Hufflepuff could think of to describe the moment: startling. He was shocked, upset, and even angry with Harry for saying such, yet his expression only relayed hurt. He knew that people suffered and lived through it, but he didn't expect that the Boy Who Lived would be the one to scold him about it.

Instead of replying, Cedric stood up, tucking his hands into his pockets, moving to stand at the edge of the steep hill. The breeze of cold air unsettled his hair, casting it around his face unceremoniously. He considered apologizing to Harry for even thinking that he understood, but didn't when he realized that it might sound sarcastic. So he settled for silence.

_I'm so hard to handle_

_I'm selfish and I'm sad_

_Now I've gone and lost_

_The best baby that I ever had_

_Oh, I wish I had a river_

_I could skate away on_

The crunching of grass alerted the boy that he had been joined, and he turned to see Harry next to him, standing with his back straight, staring at the trees at the bottom of the sharp drop. The fog that once clouded his eyes had vanished, and in its place was a sunken look, hard and remote.

"Yes, Cedric," the smaller boy said in a defeated tone. "I do miss her."

Cedric nodded his head, allowing it to bob up and down a moment before he said: "So do I, Harry."

"I wish that I could see them all once more before peace comes to me."

"What?" Cedric looked at Harry, question in his eyes.

"I just…want to see them all before I, you know, rest in peace. Not that peace will ever truly find me."

A cloud obscured the moon from sight, casting near dark upon the two. The clouds were just see-through enough to permit a faint outline of the crescent behind it to show.

_I wish I had a river so long_

_I would teach my feet to fly_

_Oh, I wish I had a river_

"Didn't you…. Didn't you say goodbye to them all though? Before the final battle?"

Harry turned his face away from Cedric, hiding the tears that threatened to fall. "No, well, yeah, I guess, but it wasn't really a goodbye. I…I told them that I would see them…see them all later on, after I…after I killed Voldemort (Cedric didn't even flinch at the Dark Lord's name), but I didn't. I…I was taken down with him, and I never got to…to say goodbye…to any of them."

It was an awkward moment. Cedric knew that Harry was torn apart on the inside, but wouldn't allow anyone to see it. He knew that what the boy needed now more then anything was someone to comfort him, someone to let him know that things would be all right.

_ I made my baby say goodbye_

Cedric knew what he had to do, but he was afraid of doing it. Once more inside of him, the bubble of fear at being a coward swelled up inside of him. He removed his hand from his pocket, reaching out, determined not to let the cowardice overpower him. It shook in uncertainty, but he willed it to keep moving, closer and closer to its target.

He stopped just short of his goal. He knew that it was what Harry needed most, but what if, at the same time, it was exactly what Harry needed least? Perplexed, he started to draw his hand back to him, but when the boy gave a cough, scrubbing at his face, Cedric made up his mind.

In a swift motion, he darted his arm out and wrapped it around the jet-black haired boy's shoulders, pulling him in towards him.

Harry blinked in utter confusion. Just what did Cedric have in mind?

"It's…it's all right, Harry," Cedric murmured in what he hoped was a consoling voice. "It's fine, we'll see them all again. I miss them too, but together, we'll work through this."

_ It's coming on Christmas_

_They're cutting down trees_

_They're putting up reindeer_

_And singing songs of joy and peace_

_Oh, I wish I had a river_

I could skate away on 

"Yeah," Harry agreed, placing a numb hand on Cedric's arm. "We'll get through it all right. Together."


End file.
